Co-designing research to meet water resources management needs

Climate change poses a range of challenges for water resource management in Western Australia, particularly in the south-west of the state. We have engaged with various stakeholders in south-west Western Australia, including the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), since 2016 to exchange knowledge and identify the information needs for managing water resources in this region. (These needs were identified and discussed at a workshop in 2017, and are documented in Climate challenges for water resources management in Western Australia: workshop summary).

Building on this earlier work, we collaborated with DWER to identify research that would inform their water resource management and planning activities. We updated DWER with the latest climate projection information and were provided with a valuable opportunity to better understand the approaches and tools used by DWER in their water resource planning activities. As a result, our researchers were able to consider the type and format of hydroclimate data most appropriate for incorporation into these tools.

This knowledge will be used to inform future Hub projects that focus on water resources and climate change, ensuring the accessibility and usability of the end products of the Hub’s research.

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We’ve worked with state and federal government and water managers to identify gaps in hydroclimate metrics and improve climate-water modelling, and have developed methods to deliver next generation projections of future water availability and hydrologic variables or metrics important to the water and related sectors.

Co-designing research to meet water resources management needs was last modified: May 23rd, 2019 by Karen Pearce